Ai Weiwei's release elicits calls for China to free more dissidents

Activist artist Ai Weiwei gestures while speaking to journalists gathered outside his home in Beijing, China, Thursday, June 23. Ai, the most high-profile target of a sweeping crackdown on activists in China, has returned home late Wednesday after nearly three months in detention. The official Xinhua News Agency said Ai confessed to tax evasion, accusations his family had long denied and which activists had denounced as a false premise for detaining him.

Ng Han Guan/AP

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Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei's release from prison after almost three months in detention was met quietly by world leaders and activists who, while happy about Mr. Ai's freedom, are still alarmed by the degree to which free speech remains curtailed in China.

"It's always a good thing when an individual, as we said, who's only in prison for exercising his internationally recognized human rights is released," said US State Department Spokesman Mark Toner Wednesday at a press briefing. "But there's obviously more individuals who are being held."

Amnesty International says Ai's release is not evidence of any change in the Chinese government's tactic toward critics.

“His release on bail can be seen as a tokenistic move by the government to deflect mounting criticism,” said Catherine Baber, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Asia Pacific.

“It is vital that the international outcry over Ai Weiwei be extended to those activists still languishing in secret detention or charged with inciting subversion.”

While the news of Ai's release is being talked about across the world, Chinese censors are working hard to keep discussion of Ai offline. CNN went black on local TV screens, while it broadcasted the news, CNN reported.

On Sina Weibo – a Chinese microblog with strict censorship guidelines – words with the slightest linkage to Ai are currently banned, including "release," "AWW" and "the fat guy." The phrase "love the future," which looks and sounds like his name in Mandarin, has also been blocked. …

Additionally, Internet users in China continue to have problems when searching his name via web browser or blogging their views about the terms of his release.

"Why can't I even type in "going home" now. I didn't really say anything sensitive. Sina do you have to be so scared?," @Agina1106 posted, in reference to censorship on Sina Weibo.